The invention relates to a portable, handheld light, and more specifically to a multi-function portable light which can be utilized as a handheld flash light and which can be additionally utilized as a lamp for lighting a work area without being hand held by the user.
Portable lights employing high intensity lamps powered, for example by a 12 volt or 6 volt battery are well known and are widely commercially available. Such portable lights are often housed in a cylindrical or boxy type housing and it is common to attached a hand grip to the housing for easily directing the light beam.
One inconvenience in utilizing such portable lights is that when the user directs the light beam in a forward direction to light up more distant stretches of a path, the area of the path immediately in front of the footsteps of the user remains dark, presenting the possibility of stumbling over an unseen object and/or irregularity in the pathway. If the user directs the light beam to the immediate area in front of himself or herself, then the more distant areas of the pathway remain dark. Accordingly, the user of the portable light is forced to continue switching the direction of the light beam so that both the immediate area in front of the user as well as the more distant areas can be illuminated. It would be desirable if the user did not have to continue switching directions of the light beam and still have near and distant areas illuminated.
Additionally, it is often desirable to utilize a portable light to illuminate a work area without having to hold the portable light to stabilize it. Furthermore, it is often not necessary to utilize the full candle power of the high intensity lamp for illuminating a relatively close work area. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a mechanism for stabilizing the portable light on a surface and to utilize a lower intensity lamp beam in order to conserve battery power.